Gargantua avec les 3 graces mais - a "chacune" une pomme (a la R.) 1942

Bernard Reder made this woodcut print, ‘Gargantua avec les 3 graces mais - a "chacune" une pomme (a la R.)', and the title alone suggests we should expect something a little quirky. The thick, expressive lines carve out a scene that feels both classical and irreverent, like a drunken Bacchanal. Look closely, and you can almost feel the artist’s hand at work; each cut and gouge in the wood block makes its presence known. The texture is palpable; the raw physicality of the medium really shines through. I’m drawn to the contrast between the dark, dense thicket of the trees and the open, almost ethereal quality of the figures. It reminds me of some of Picasso’s explorations of classical themes, filtered through a decidedly modern sensibility, a reminder that art is always in conversation with the past, even as it pushes toward something new. It’s not about answers, but about the questions it provokes, about how we see and feel our way through the world.